Join us on Tuesday 1st September, at Moyleabbey Organic Farm & Teagasc Oak Park Orchard.

We are delighted to announce our next Members Farm Walk & Focus Session of the 2026 season. This time we head to south Kildare / north Carlow for a two-part event exploring market gardening and orchard management.

In the morning we'll visit Liam Ryan of Moyleabbey Organic Farm, who has kindly agreed to host us on his 13.5-acre organic fruit and vegetable market garden. Topics for discussion include seasonal crop planning, hand-harvesting methods, working with volunteers and interns and building strong relationships with customers through direct selling—a model Liam has refined over many years.

In the afternoon, we'll move on to Teagasc Oak Park in Carlow, where Fruit Research Officer Alberto Ramos Luz will lead an orchard walk through Teagasc's experimental orchard, exploring ongoing trials, the latest research and practical developments in Irish apple production. Topics will include training systems, rootstocks and disease-prevention principles, along with an opportunity to look at other ongoing trials including solar panels, data collection, temperature and trunk-growth monitoring, neo sensors and crop load management.

Schedule

10am – 12.30pm: Morning session at Moyleabbey Organic Farm.

12.30pm – 2pm: Lunch at Moyleabbey Farm.

2pm – 2.30pm: Travel to Teagasc Oak Park.

2.30pm – 4pm: Afternoon session at Teagasc Oak Park Orchard.

Tea and coffee will be provided. It would be great if everyone could bring their own lunch and/or something to share.

While the day is structured around the needs of commercial horticultural growers, with peer-to-peer learning and real-world production systems at its core, it may also be of real value to supporter members with ambitions or plans to move into commercial organic growing. If that sounds like you, you'd be very welcome to join us.

About Moyleabbey Organic Farm

Liam has been growing certified organic produce at Moyleabbey for more than 20 years, achieving full organic status in 2006. Growing approximately 18 different crops throughout the year—ranging from rhubarb, asparagus and garlic in early season through to sweetcorn, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries, and leafy crops like kale, spinach and salad—across 5 actively farmed acres, with the rest in green manure ley.

Liam is supported by a full-time OGI intern, two part-time staff and WWOOF volunteers, and sells exclusively through his own farm shop and Carlow Farmers Market.

This video, made in 2013 gives a good overall picture of the farm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2081k8c7sHY

About Teagasc Oak Park Orchard

Established in 2023, the Teagasc Oak Park orchard grows 50 different varieties of fruit. Its aim is to identify varieties suited to the Irish climate and to consumer and market needs, and to develop better orchard management practices for maximum yield efficiency and fruit quality.

While the orchard itself is not organic, many of the principles and practices utilised will be applicable to organic systems.

Find out more here: https://teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/rooting-innovation-shaping-irelands-apple-future/

Description supplied by the event organiser.